Matera, Italy: Cave Hotels, Killer Pasta and 9,000 Years of History

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we go to one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth and one of our favorite spots in all of Italy. Matera is built into limestone caves that people have lived in for at least 9,000 years, it's been called the second Jerusalem and it went from being the shame of Italy to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We talk about the history of the forced evacuation in 1952, the cave churches with medieval frescoes, walking on top of someone else's roof without realizing it, the Salvador Dali exhibition that made Dylan fall in love with surrealism and the James Bond story that involved thousands of gallons of Coca-Cola on the streets.We also get into the food, including the bread stamps families used at communal ovens, cheese aged in caves, white truffles that nobody knows about and the spaghetti all'assassina that nearly killed us at a cave restaurant. We've been twice, stayed in cave Airbnbs both times and brought Cash the first trip and Rex the second. Matera is not easy to get to but it is absolutely worth it, especially if you're already in Puglia. We share how to plan it, when to go and why you need tennis shoes.For more, visit www.thegetawayz.comSupport the show